Toward Social Implementation of Solutions to “Make it Real”

When a polymer-producing microorganism was found 30 years ago, it was only a dream to produce it industrially. Innovative culturing technology has been developed through continuous research and development, and compounding and molding technology has also evolved significantly, making the social implementation of Green Planet™ a reality.
With its superior biodegradability under a wide range of environments, our 100% plant-based Green Planet™ has obtained the “OK Biodegradable MARINE” certificate and will contribute to the reduction of marine pollution caused by microplastics.

Expanding Adoption in Japan and Overseas

Environmental pollution caused by plastics has become a major issue. Disposable plastics are being regulated worldwide, and the reduction of disposable plastics is now obligatory in Japan under the Plastic Resource Circulation Act that came into effect in April 2022. In addition to being biodegradable, Green Planet™ has the same functions as general-purpose plastics, so its adoption in Japan and overseas is expanding as a material that can provide an epoch-making solution to environmental damage caused by disposable plastics.
At SEVEN-ELEVEN JAPAN CO., LTD. and FamilyMart Co., Ltd., the adoption of straws is expanding nationwide. FamilyMart Co., Ltd. is also adopting cutlery. Stretchable straws have been adopted for the paper-packed beverages “Oi Ocha Green Tea,” “Oi Ocha Roasted Green Tea,” and “Jujitsu Yasai” with lactic-acid bacilli mixed by ITO EN, LTD. Shopping bags will be introduced at all “BLUE SKY” airport stores operated by JALUX Inc. Inquiries from large hotel chains for amenity applications are also increasing.

Further Increasing Production Capacity

It is estimated that the amount of disposable general-purpose plastic products that can be replaced by Green Planet™ is approximately 25 million tons/year worldwide. The straws, cutlery, coffee capsules, bags, films, etc. that are already in use alone have a scale of over 5 million tons/year. Following the large-scale capacity increase (15,000 tons/year) scheduled to start in January 2024, the capacity will be gradually increased in Europe and the United States under the policy of local production for local consumption, and the production capacity will be increased to 100,000 to 200,000 tons/year in Japan and overseas.

Contributing to Recycling-Oriented Society

In Europe and the United States, there is an active movement to change plastics used for food packaging to biodegradable materials so as not to prevent composting of garbage. Demand for coffee capsules made with Green Planet™ is growing rapidly because they can be composted together with garbage after coffee extraction. We have also started joint development with a large confectionery manufacturer to deal with the composting of packaging bags for snack confectionery. Green Planet™ is also attracting attention in the field of agriculture, and its application to mulch films and nursery pots is also progressing. Its excellent biodegradability eliminates the need for collection after use.
Another major feature of Green Planet™ is that waste cooking oil can be used as a raw material for Green Planet™. In cooperation with local governments, we are also conducting demonstration experiments as a recycling-oriented environmental material such as “waste oil collection → production of Green Planet™ → production of biodegradable plastic garbage bags → composting of garbage.”